Right Here, Right Now
by lookingforthestars
Summary: This time, she had to be the first to walk away. She refused to be left behind again.
1. Chapter 1

**First off, thank you to all my lovely forum friends who always give me great ideas for fics! Just a few things to say before we dive in: 1) I don't think this is what will happen in the finale, it was just fun to write. 2) Don't worry about me moving things too fast in this fic, I won't. 3) Probably going to be a two-shot. 4) Please review, it makes a huge difference in my enjoyment of writing.**

"Walter, the clock is ticking!" Happy yelled, the shakiness in her voice a sure sign that everyone around her should be rattled. "Wanna hurry up with plan B?"

"I'm thinking!" Walter snapped, pacing around the narrow hallway. It wasn't often the genius with a 197 IQ was out of answers, and it was terrifying every time. But he would get there. He hadn't let them down yet.

Paige stepped around Sylvester, ready to encourage her boyfriend, but Florence reached him first, putting a hand on his arm. "Back off, guys," she groused at the team, turning to Walter and muttering something she couldn't make out. Doubtful she would have understood even if she could hear over the din of the machinery above them. "Just like the demonstration, right? But…bigger."

Toby clapped his hands together, looking like a man whose odds of survival had just jumped exponentially. "Hallelujah! I knew you guys went to that stupid lecture for a reason." The team erupted into activity as Toby began to rattle off a list of items he needed Paige to scavenge.

She forced herself to focus.

* * *

Paige was exhausted.

She'd only come upstairs to retrieve her makeup bag from his bathroom, fully intending to spend the night at home in her own bed. But she made the fatal mistake of sitting on his couch and now it just seemed easier to sink into the cushions and stare blankly into space.

"What do you want for dinner?"

Paige blinked, Walter's voice drawing her out of her haze. He was leaning in the doorway, watching her with a focus that usually made her heart beat a little erratically. But now her skin felt hot in an entirely unpleasant way and she thought her blood might literally be boiling.

She uncrossed her legs, standing up abruptly enough to give herself a head rush. "I'm not staying."

"Oh." The genius's expression folded and he dragged his hand over his mouth, looking visibly deflated. "I, uh…I wasn't sure y-you heard that. Earlier."

"I heard it."

Walter nodded, lapsing into silence while she debated whether to slap him or leave until she'd had a chance to sleep on it. For better or worse, he made that choice with his next words. "It's not what you think, Paige."

God, where had she heard _that_ before? Certainly not while Drew defended the "completely out of context" messages on his phone, telling her _she_ was the crazy one as she rocked a crying Ralph in her arms. Not when the police showed up to arrest Veronica for the fifth time in a year. Not when Tim started avoiding her calls and canceling their Skype sessions, about five seconds before he broke up with her.

Paige swallowed, feeling suddenly nauseated. "You lied to me. And then you snuck around with her. Please tell me what I'm supposed to think."

He sighed, taking a step forward into the loft. "I-I was going to tell you at some point. For this reason. Toby advised me that this was becoming more than the white lie I originally planned—."

"You think _that_ was a white lie?" she choked out with a humorless laugh.

Walter's eyes narrowed, his brows creased in confusion. "Y-Yes. I overheard you telling Ralph that you dreaded attending the lecture. I was trying to spare your feelings. Like you taught me."

"I wasn't teaching you to lie to me!"

"Paige, I don't understand. You asked me to lie about the breakfast you made. T-To be polite. How was I supposed to know that this would be different?"

 _You're just supposed to know,_ she wanted to say. But underneath her rage, she knew that was unfair. Walter didn't know. It was his entire reason for hiring her.

She switched tactics. It was jealous and petty, and in the moment, she didn't really care. "But you were fine with telling the whole team?"

"It wasn't…Happy…s-she saw Florence getting into my car. She was under a mistaken impression and confronted me." He stepped forward again, and Paige's instinct to pull back was blocked as her legs bumped into the couch. "I-I can see how lying made it worse. But that doesn't change the fact that Florence and I are only friends. Didn't you encourage me to be friends with her?"

That was _before_. Before he'd dreamed about being married to her. Before Paige was forced to watch her connect with him intellectually, in a way she never could. Before he canceled plans to be with her instead, stoking one of Paige's deepest fears. "So, what, this is my fault?"

"I'm not—." Walter exhaled. "I-I'm not saying that."

"Then what are you saying?"

"What should I say?" he erupted, his patience finally fraying. "Paige, how do I end this argument? You want me to never speak to Florence again? Fine. Done. Do you want me to apologize for lying? I do. I'm sorry. Tell me what I have to do."

She felt her chest tighten at the frustration and desperation in his tone. She didn't know how to answer. How unfair was it to cut Florence out of his life because of her jealousy? But how could she manage any more days like today, watching the chemist touch him while they saved the day together?

Paige couldn't imagine that Walter would cheat on her. He wasn't wired that way. But that didn't stop the persistent voice in her head telling her that _it won't be long. He'll realize this is too hard and find someone who understands him without even trying. This was always a pipe dream._

This time, she had to be the first to walk away. She refused to be left behind again.

Paige crossed her arms, sinking her teeth almost painfully into her lip. "I don't know if this is working, Walter."

If she'd thought he looked defeated before, she certainly wasn't prepared for his expression now. Paige looked down, unable to meet his injured stare. "I thought…you loved me."

"Of course I do," Paige murmured, unwilling to lie to him about that no matter how angry she was. "I do, but something isn't clicking. It's like both of us have one foot out the door and it's been that way since we started this." Heat pricked her eyes and she hated how intensely Walter always managed to affect her, even when he wasn't trying. "We're not giving it everything we have. We both know it. We haven't even talked about the future, Walter. Instead we're standing here fighting about some other woman. Shouldn't we be past this by now?"

The genius was quiet. It was a quirk of his low EQ that he almost never said what she expected or wanted to hear. For once, she wasn't sure what that would be anyway.

She shrugged. "I just…I think maybe we should—."

"Get married."

"Take a break," Paige said at the same time, the last word dying out in her throat. "What?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Can we get to the last two episodes already? I'm ready to rip off the Band-Aid and see what the writers have in store for us. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, h** **ope you enjoy part two in all its fluffy glory.**

Walter cleared his throat. "Uh, I said that we—."

"I heard what you said."

"Then why did you ask for clarification?"

"B-Because!" Paige stammered ineffectually, her brain on a veritable overload. What were they arguing about before he dropped that bombshell on her? "You can't just propose during a fight, Walter!"

The genius frowned. "Why?" He closed the distance between them and Paige was too stunned to even consider moving away this time. "I heard you. You're concerned that we aren't fully committed. I don't necessarily agree with your assessment, but I can certainly understand how recent events may have suggested that. So…I'm committing."

Paige gaped at him, searching for any signs that he was joking or under duress. But he seemed calm. Assured. Like this was the most logical decision in the world. "But I was breaking up with you."

His expression softened, a hint of that familiar uncertainty returning. "Y-Yes. I know. And I will respect any decision you make, but for the record, I strongly prefer my option."

"Oh my god," she muttered, lowering back onto the couch as her legs threatened to buckle underneath her. Walter hesitated for a second before sitting on the edge of the table, hands clasped between his knees, waiting patiently as she processed. "What about Florence?" she finally asked.

"Florence? I fail to see what relevance—." The genius stopped at her sharp look and thought for a moment. "She and I are friends. Colleagues. That has always been the case. I can be more transparent in my interactions with her. Or not interact with her. I don't think we reached a consensus on that."

Paige shook her head. He _still_ didn't get it. "That's what I said too," she admitted, her voice breaking slightly. "I told everyone that we were just friends. Colleagues. I told myself that. But I was in love with you, and deep down I always knew."

"But…she's not…" He shrugged. "You."

It was so simple for him. A fact. Paige and Florence were wholly different people.

But Paige had fought so hard to move on from Walter. To push him away and find happiness elsewhere. And all she'd ever succeeded in doing was falling harder. How could a woman who was so much like him in so many ways _not_ feel the same? And how could he not want someone who truly understood and appreciated his intelligence, the thing he hinged his entire identity on?

On the other hand, she'd given him an out and instead he proposed. Maybe her fears said more about her than Walter, even if he had lied like a jerk.

"Paige?"

She looked up, seeing the concern on his face and realizing that she was taking too long to respond. Her head was still jumbled and she blurted the first thing that came to mind. "You would really just…marry me? We haven't been together that long."

Walter pressed his lips together, nodding slowly. "Well, i-it's like you said to me before. We're three years into our relationship. The exact nature might be different now, but I-I know you pretty well." He reached for her tentatively, relaxing when Paige allowed him to take both of her hands. "I suppose most people suggest marriage when things are going more smoothly, but that's only temporary, right? They'll fight again. Statistically, soon. So I don't…really see the difference?"

Paige couldn't believe she'd been preparing to break up with the genius minutes earlier and was now suppressing a giggle as he fumbled through…whatever this was. _Damn you, Walter O'Brien._

"Anyway," he continued, gripping her hands more tightly. "Um, I don't have one foot out the door. That door wouldn't lead anywhere. I know we've been…off…lately, but I'm still happy. With you. A-And I don't anticipate falling in love again. Marrying you at any point in time makes sense to me."

"Even though we don't have the same interests? Us being so different doesn't bother you?"

Walter shrugged again. "We both care about Ralph. And helping people through Scorpion. What else is important?"

She certainly couldn't argue with that. He'd never failed to make her son his number one priority. Maybe the rest of it, while not ideal, was just surface stuff. Paige told him that she loved his true self, regardless of whether he liked what she liked, and that hadn't stopped being true, even if she lost sight of it for a while.

Paige scooted toward the edge of the couch to be closer to Walter, resting one of her hands on his chest. "I don't think we should get married," she said quietly, continuing quickly as his expression clouded. "Just not…not now. Because I love you. And I want this to work. So I need to…" She swallowed. "Work on my insecurity. Learn to trust you more. And we need to communicate better, both of us. No more lying." He raised his eyebrow. "Yes, I know. That was stupid. Maybe we can focus on tact instead of dishonesty, okay?"

"Okay." The corner of his mouth lifted. "You're not going to break up with me?"

"No. If you're all in, then I am too. As much as that scares me."

"Me too."

"Good, we'll be train wrecks together." Walter huffed out a laugh and Paige couldn't resist leaning in to kiss him, her hand on his cheek as their lips met. This couldn't be a mistake. Not when the idea of losing him felt so terrible, and being close to him felt so safe. "One day," she whispered, giving him another peck. "One day, I'll say yes."


End file.
